(Radio Iowa) — A team from the state auditor’s office has concluded thousands of dollars in cash from ticket and concession sales for events in the Wapsie Valley school district didn’t get deposited. The review concluded about 13-thousand-700 dollars worth of concession stand sales at Wapsie Valley School District events had not been deposited during the 2016-2017 school year.

According to a news release from State Auditor Rob Sand, it was not possible to determine why the money wasn’t deposited. He said the district did not keep sufficient records for concession sales — or for the ticket sales to school events. The district has adopted new rules for handling and accounting for the cash collected during ball games and other school activities.

The Wapsie Valley School District is in northeast Iowa. It’s high school is located in Fairbank.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Insurance Division is taking action against the owner of funeral homes in Emmetsburg and Graettinger in connection with pre-paid services and how they are handled. Division spokesman, Chance McElhaney says if you are considering pre-paying for your funeral — you can check out the provider before signing any agreements.

“You can always double check with the Iowa Insurance Division. so, you can go to our website at IID-dot-Iowa-dot-gov (IID.Iowa.gov),” McElhaney says. He says they can tell you if the company you are working with has the proper paperwork. “Anybody that’s selling a pre-need funeral arrangement, they have to be licensed with the state. And they would be licensed with us at the Iowa Insurance Division,” according McElhaney. “So you can give us a call — or you can visit our website and you can double check to make sure that they are properly licensed.”

You can call at 515-281-5705 or toll free within Iowa at: 877-955-1212.

Officials with the Stuart Police Department report that on Saturday, October 19th, at approximately 1:13- P.M., Stuart Officers were dispatched to 615 SW 7th St. Apt #1 on reports of three people breaking into an apartment and climbing through a window. This is the same apartment where two days prior, a shooting had occurred between police and a wanted person.

A Stuart officer contacted two males who were leaving the apartment. Both males told the officer they were there to collect belongings for a friend and that they were the only two at the apartment. Upon further investigation it was determined that a female, later identified as, Amanda Comly, of Stuart, was inside the apartment hiding in a back bedroom. The officer had knowledge that Comly was wanted on a state-wide extraditable warrant.

COUNCIL BLUFFS –  The Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency reports it is gathering public data to pursue participation in flood buyout programs in the unincorporated areas of Northwest Pottawattamie County, the City of Oakland, and the City of Council Bluffs.  Doug Reed, Director of Emergency Management, said “a listing of known impacted areas and properties were provided to Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management to conduct a financial analysis on the maximum potential costs for a buyout program within the county. What we need to compile now is a list of property owners that are interested in participating in the program. A buyout program is completely voluntary on part of the property owner.” The list will be used to determine program eligibility, have a better understanding of what the actual costs could be, and assist the local jurisdictions in determining program priorities in order to submit the official applications for participation.

Pott. County EMA

Owners of residential, agricultural, or commercial properties located within a special flood hazard area and were impacted by the flooding of 2019 are asked to review general program information and submit an interest form online at https://sites.google.com/view/pottco2019flood/home. Once this list is compiled, the governing boards or councils of the respective jurisdictions will formally decide whether to participate in the program and if so, establish program priorities for potential buyout offers. Property owners meeting program criteria will be asked to submit a Statement of Voluntary Transaction which will then get their property listed on the official applications submitted to applicable state and federal program authorities.

Property owners must submit their information on the online registry no later than 3:00 p.m., on Thursday, October 31, 2019. Submission of information does not commit the property owner to selling their property and owners may elect to withdraw from the program at any point prior to final execution of property transaction agreements. Property owners submitting information on the interest registry will be contacted regarding their program status and next steps.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports two male students have absconded from the Clarinda Academy. Law enforcement & Clarinda Academy are looking for the students now. One student is a Native American, the other a white male. Notice of their departure from the facility was announced at 12:43-p.m.

The Clarinda Academy is a residential academic and behavioral health treatment facility for at-risk youth.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa social services worker has entered a guilty plea to perjury over her false testimony that helped convince a judge to remove four children from their parents.
Former Iowa Department of Human Services employee, 30-year old Chelsie Gray entered a written Alford plea to the felony charge last week under a proposed plea agreement with prosecutors. Such a plea is an acknowledgment that prosecutors may have enough evidence to prove her guilt at trial but that she maintains her innocence.

If accepted by a judge, prosecutors would dismiss two other perjury counts and she will be recommended for a deferred judgment. That means the charge would be wiped away from her record if she stays out of trouble. A judge has scheduled a plea and sentencing hearing for Dec. 3.  Gray was charged in April with making several false statements during a December 2017 hearing in which she recommended a judge terminate the parental rights of a mother and father.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A man has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he beat a pastor to death outside a central Iowa church. Webster County court records say 36-year-old Joshua Pendleton entered pleas Monday to charges of robbery and first-degree murder. His trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10. Officers sent to St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge on Oct. 2 found the Rev. Allen Henderson lying unresponsive outside. Henderson was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police say security footage shows a man who officers identified as Pendleton trying to get into the building. Police say Pendleton later acknowledged to investigators that he had fought with a man at the church. The 64-year-old Henderson was senior pastor at St. Paul and had served as a chaplain to area first responders.